Oregon, or, Home – Day 30 of 30 Days of Indie Travel – 2012 Ticket

“Where are you going in 2012? Why is that place great for indie travelers?”

Note: not my tattoo. But not a bad idea, either...

Oregon, or, Home

My imagination is in the middle of many a worldwide adventure, but for 2012, my wife and I don’t know where all we’ll be physically going. Sometime in December we’re having our first child. I could wax metaphorical about traveling into the unknown realm of parenthood, but that just reeks of schmaltz. Realistically, for 2012 we’ll first focus our next travels around more of our home state, Oregon. And for indie travelers, that’s an awesome thing:

Oregon's Painted Hills

Psst! I don’t usually talk about this, but the climate isn’t all rain, clouds and temperate rainforest. The summers are dry and beautiful, and the eastern part of the state is all high desert.

Despite being the 9th largest state in the U.S., Oregon’s lower population density means lots and lots of open land.

Beer. Oh heavens, the beer. If this state was any beerier, the rain would smell of hops. (If you’re coming through Eugene, let me know; Oakshire and Ninkasi are two of our beer havens.)

Downtown Portland's waterfront

Portland. More than just the hipsters of the comedy show Portlandia, Portland is one of the most fun cities in the country. Food carts all over town provide amazing nosh, there’s more beer and breweries per capita than any other city in the U.S., and urban and outdoorsy recreation abound.

I could go on and on and on and on…

For us, the top reason is that Oregon is our home, and there’s so much of it we still haven’t seen. I’ve yet to see eastern Oregon, and we can always do with more time on the Oregon coast or in the Cascade Mountains.

And with a new wee person to introduce to this world, we’re seeing that as an excellent reason to trek out to see more of our home state. As our kiddo gets older, then it’s just a matter of time to put on that first rucksack, pose for passport photos, and head somewhere beyond home.

What is the 30 days of indie travel?

Every day in November, the BootsnAll Travel Network is inviting bloggers from around the world to a daily blogging effort designed to reflect on how our travel experiences over the last year (or whenever) have shaped us and our view of the world. Bloggers can follow the prompts as strictly or loosely as we like, interpreting them in various ways and responding via text, photos or video posted on our own blogs. More information: Join the 30 Days of Indie Travel Project »